Bachelor King 3: The Cousins
by creativeKing95
Summary: Spiny and the girls tell Larry about the day when Patty first moved in with them and how they needed to get used to having two identical girls with opposite personalities.
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes you start out doing something and end up doing something completely different and unexpected. That ever happen to you?

That's happened to me numerous times. But I'll only mention one. It was the day of…don't remember. October 6, 2014. Ten days before Amarkian Foundation Day. That's the day in which Amarkia was founded, October 16th; a little more than 95 million years go. During the age of dinosaurs. That's when my species, Spinosaurus, was at its height.

That's the day in which the first king of Amarkia, Idrytis Kyverná, planted his mangrove tree in an open field beside a river. He'd gone there to escape assassination attempt and lived by himself. Lived off the land. Even though we dinosaurs could talk back then, we still weren't a million times more modern than you humans.

Anyways, we celebrate Foundation Day every October 16th.

We were in my room, as I recall. Larry and I. We were looking for something. Don't know what it was. I think it was a special suit I wear only to certain occasions. (In dinosaur form here, by the way.) I was rummaging through the closet, looking under things and behind things. Larry looked his own way. He throws things, no matter how heavy they are or if they break something or land on someone's head.

Like right now. I'm here looking under a wooden plank, and just now Larry threw a…OOF! A baseball bat! And it hurts. Oh, it hurts! Laugh all you want. If you think it's funny, have someone threw a baseball bat at your head from at the other end of the room.

"Hey, that hurts, stupid!" I yelled at Larry.

"Oh, sorry. I threw it too soft. I mean…aah!"

"Oh, shut up, will you?"

He stuck out his tongue at me and turned around to keep looking. Nothing. Still couldn't find it. I stood up and got a ladder to look up on the top bench of the closet. I was going through some things when I suddenly felt something hit the ladder.

I felt wobbly, almost dizzy. Then, ahh, ahh! CRASH! Down I came. Landed right on my head, and got my tail under the ladder when it came crashing down. Naturally, I screamed.

I took the ladder off, and very painfully stood up. I turned to Larry. He was staring and at me, with a goofy smile. He said, "Uh, ah, heh heh." His I'm-in-trouble laugh. I grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.

I was about to choke him when the door slammed opened. Right in my face, mind you. Sometimes I wonder why all these things happen to me. Seems all bad things happen to me, just to me, especially to me, and ONLY to me. Makes me wonder sometimes…never mind.

Guess who'd slammed the door open? My somewhat naïve and careless sister, Kathy. She'd also been searching through all her stuff. For a dress, not my suit. "Hey, guys," she said. "Look what I found." She held up a a red and orange dress.

I looked at it all over. "Hey, isn't this the dress you wore to your first date?"

She smiled. "Yep. That's it."

"Aw, you wanna get rid of it?" said Larry.

We both stared at him. "Shut up!"

He shrugged and muttered, "Just an idea."

We looked back at the dress. "You remember that day?" she asked me.

I sighed. "How could I forget? We were what? Twelve years old?"

She nodded.

"You were so nervous," I continued. "I even cried."

Larry grinned. "You cried? Over your sister's first date? What a softie!"

I glared at him. "I happen to be unbelievably emotional. Besides, someone's first date is always something special. It's like a, I don't know. Like a before and after."

He nodded. "Like, before you were cool, and now after you're mushy and uncool?"

I groaned. "Forget I mentioned it."

At that moment, my cousin Patty walked in. She was carrying a large black binder. "You won't believe what I found."

"A dead horse?" said Larry.

She looked at him. "That's not funny."

Larry smiled. It was a self-satisfied smile. As if to say, "Yes I know. But I love to drive you all crazy."

Anyways, Patty said, "I found our Family Photo Album."

We all got excited. We went over to my bed, sat down, while Patty handed me the album so that we could all look through it. We came across our parent's wedding photo. "Look, Mom and Dad," said Kathy.

"Yeah, boy do I remember. I sure got the prettiest stepmom. Look at the pretty stepsister I got." Kathy smiled and hugged me. "Thanks, bro."

We kept looking and found one of Robert's baby pictures. He had a green plain shirt and small jeans. "Aww!" we all said. "Can't believe it's been that long," said Larry.

I kept flipping through the pictures and found something interesting. "Hey! Who is this fine-looking young lady?"

"That's not a fine-looking young lady, that's Patty," said Larry.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Patty didn't appreciate it. She pulled his tail. That usually quieted him down. Usually.

The picture was of Patty, when she was twelve and a half. She was probably three or four inches shorter than she is now. Her hair was much shorter; it stopped halfway between her shoulders and her ears. She was wearing a fur coat, a scarf, and a green beret.

Suddenly, it hit me. "Oh! I remember this photo. We took this one about a month or so after Patty first moved here. You remember?"

The girls nodded. Larry didn't. "I don't."

"You don't remember?" Kathy said, surprised.

He shook his head. "I wasn't here. I was on a space exploration trip."

"Oh, that's right," I said. "Yeah, Larry wasn't here."

"Maybe you should tell Larry," Patty suggested.

All at once, Larry looked eager. "Yeah, tell me."

I hesitated. "Guys, we have a lot of work to do. Foundation Day's in ten days."

"Come on, bro. Don't be a spoil sport," said Kathy.

I sighed. "All right. I'll tell the story."

Everyone got comfortable on my bed. I put the photo album on the floor beside the bed and laid my head on the pillow. "All right. It was about…winter. The year was 361 CE. Just a few weeks, earlier, I'd gotten a letter from Patty's uncle telling us about how he wanted Patty to live in one place so she could finish school."

Well, why don't I tell you, too? Sit back and relax. Imagine I'm telling the story. Okay, now let's go back to that date. Reminiscence. You know how in the movies and TV when someone reminisces, the screen gets wobbly for a minute then clears to the past? Same thing here.

Okay. Here we go. Two years ago. For us that is. For you that's 1,613 years.


	2. Chapter 2

It was January. January 19th, 391 CE. We'd been having a cold spell. Let's see…oh, yeah. I was…at my office. Yes, I was. I was going over some reports and proposed laws. Then, I got a call on the phone. "Hello?" Remember, I was only twelve so I was still casual in answering calls.

"Spiny, it's Kathy."

"Yeah, what's up?" Let me tell you something, 12 years of age is the worst time for any teenage guy. That's when our voices change and very frequently break. It's embarrassing. Especially at that age, because that's when start noticing girls and worrying about your appearance.

Anyways, Kathy said, "I just called the airport. Patty's going to arrive at 4:45." I looked at the time. It was 2:50. "All right. I'll leave now so we can get to the airport. Get the boys ready too."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

I hung up and grabbed my things. I ran out to the front door and called my driver. I was barely learning to drive back then.

When we got to the Palace, I stepped out real quick and went inside. "Everybody ready?" I yelled.

Kathy came walking down the stairs, holding Robert by the hand, carrying Greeny in one arm. Robert was ten and a half, and Greeny was four.

"Come on, let's go. Don't want to be late to go meet our cousin Patty."

While we were going out the door and to the limo, Greeny asked, "Spiny. What does our cousin Patty look like?"

I shrugged. "Don't know, little brother. I never saw her before. Guess we should've asked her dad to send us a picture of her."

Well, we we're all buckled up and ready to go. Our driver, Phil turned the key. There was nothing. No answer from the engine. Not even a cough. Just a faint grinding sound of the key turning.

"Engine won't start, Your Majesty," he said to me.

"What? What do you mean, it won't start?"

"Doesn't start."

I dropped my hands on my knees. "That's just great. And it had to be today, right?"

"Would you like for me to call the Royal Mechanic?"

"Yes, please. Do that." I turned to my family. "Well, I guess we aren't going anywhere. I should've started driving school a few months earlier." Well, we unbuckled and went back inside.

Hmmm. Then, I had a thought. Instead of finding a way for us to go to go get her, why didn't I think of a way of getting her to come over here to us? There! I was in my room, see, and I grabbed the house phone beside my bed. "Hello, King Spiny here. Yes. Could you please get me the Sauropolis City Taxicab Service? Yes, I'll hold thanks."

I waited for a little while. Then, finally the call was put through. "Hello. Yes, this is King Spiny. Fine, thank you. Look, I wonder if you could do me a favor. My cousin is coming on a plane from Sky City to Sauropolis. Yes, on the 4:30 flight. Could you send a cab to pick her up? She's at Terminal D, at Gate 2300. Oh, and I'll send a police escort on the way back here to the Palace. OK, thank you. Bye"

Well, that was taken care of. I hung up and dialed again. I called the Sauropolis Police Station. "Hello? King Spiny. Fine, thanks. Could you send an escort for a taxicab that's going to be at the airport at 4:30?" I gave them the terminal and the gate number. "Yes. Just on the way back here to the Palace. Thanks, officer. Bye." Now, that's taken care of.

Now, let's see…Palace was clean and tidy. We'd already made space in Kathy's room and put in a new bed, put in a new closet, and some new furniture. And I'd already sent the school enrollment to enroll Patty along with us to Sauropolis Junior High. We were in the 6th grade. I always tried my best to make sure they were in the same classes as me.

Anyways, that had been taken care of. At that moment, Kathy appeared at the door. "Spiny, I forgot to tell you. We have to go to buy the groceries. For this week. I figured we'd make a special dinner. What do you think we should make?"

See how she says "we", and not "I." I also help with the cooking. Anyways, I thought hard. "Uh….how about roasted chicken, salad, and mashed potatoes and gravy?"

She nodded. "All right. I'll go right now. Coming?"

I shook my head. "No, I still got to go through to make sure everything's ready. Oh, and please take the boys so they can help you. And DON'T get away from the Security Service guys. Remember when a guy almost killed us two months ago at the City Fair?"

In case you're wondering, we've got Security guys too. Just like the US president. And yes, they've got dark formal clothes, wear sunglasses, have guns hidden under their jackets, and microphones in their ear. Just a formality. Of course, we thought of it first.

Anyways, Kathy and the boys left for the grocery store. Meanwhile I made sure all four floors and 29 rooms were clean. And the front yard, the back yard, the garage, everything. Was I nervous? Maybe a little. I mean, here was a practical stranger coming to live with us. And I mean, practical 'cause she's part of the family.

In any case, I gave the entire super-sized Palace a thorough cleaning. Sounds exaggerated, but you can never be too clean. Better safe than sorry, right? Anyways, it was about two hours later. 4:45 in the afternoon. I decided to give the taxi about fifteen extra minutes. I mean, the airport isn't exactly on the front gates, shall we say. It was on the other side of the city. And then traffic. And stop lights. You know, the whole nine yards.

So, it was about ten minutes later, when I was setting the silverware and the cups for dinner when I heard the doorbell ring. Scared the fool out of me, to be truthful. I got all jittery and nervous. I ran to the front door. Well, okay, first I looked at myself in the mirror. Whoa! Where did that come from?

Oh. It was me. I was still in dinosaur form. I was so nervous I forgot how I looked as I really do. I changed to human form. Made sure I looked all nice and tidy. I mean, sure it was only my cousin and my soon-to-be adoptive daughter. But after all she was a girl, I'd never met her before, she was almost my age, and it was natural that I wanted to make an impression. A good one.

I expected for Kathy, Robert, and Greeny to make a fair expression. I, uh, didn't want to even think the kind of impression Mr. Joker would make. You see, Larry was the kind of guy who didn't care AT All the kind of impression he made. He doesn't care what others might think of him.

If they think well of him, fine. But if not…well, let's say that he never worked hard to make people who didn't like him like him.

Anyways, I got all clean and tidy and went to open the door. There was…another one of Larry's practical jokes. Oh, boy! Even a million light years away, (literally), he couldn't resist the temptation.

"Kathy?! What are you doing?"

"I beg your pardon?" She was talking differently. Her voice was…different. She spoke with an accent…British, no. Irish? Scottish! That's it. She was talking with a slight Scottish accent. And her voice tone was, I don't know, softer. Not quieter or lower. Just softer.

And her hair was different. In those days, Kathy had her hair shorter. Still, she wears her hair the same way. Point is that Kathy always wears a flip-fall hairpiece. Now she looked different. She was wearing a turn-under hairstyle. Looked more….I don't know. More conservative, you might call it.

But other than that, I was certain that this was my sister, Kathy. But then, why was she carrying luggage. And was that a taxi leaving behind her? HUH? No, it couldn't be. Or could it?

I shook my head. I blinked my eyes. I had to be dreaming this. I wasn't. I knew because the cold wind was making me shiver. You never feel cold in dreams. So, logically, this had to be real.

"Well, uh, come in," I said to…whoever she was. She stepped in, while I carried her luggage. I looked at her. "You're not Patricia, are you? Kathy's cousin? My maternal uncle's daughter?"

She smiled. "Yes, I am." She looked in her purse and took her ID out. Along with her new Amarkian passport. I looked at both. They checked out. Weren't phony.

"Wow, so you really are Patricia. Or do you prefer Patty?"

She shrugged. "Whatever fits best. I don't really mind?"

"Well, we'll call you Patty. Sounds more casual, and sounds better when talking between teens, right? Well, preteens."

She nodded. "I guess so." She looked around. "Where is…"

"Oh, my sister and my brothers went out to buy groceries. We're planning to make a special dinner for the occasion. You know, sort of a welcoming party?"

"Oh, I'm sure that won't be necessary."

Wow. For a girl that looks exactly like Kathy, she's modest. Patty, that is. Kathy's anything but modest. "Oh, come on! You're part of the Royal Family now. You deserve it."

"Well, thanks anyway."

By this time we were at Kathy's room. "Well, here we are. You're new home. Your bed's the one on the right." She walked over there, took off her winter clothes and set them down the bed. I put the luggage on the bed, too.

She looked around the room. "This is very nice. And I've been in many luxurious hotels and mansions. But this looks fit for an almost-teenager."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've said that to myself." I crossed my arms. "Well, I'll let you unpack and put all your things away. There's your new furniture. You can take a shower right now or a nap or grab snack." I pointed to the TV on the wall. "You can watch TV or a movie, anything."

She smiled. "Thanks. I'll just unpack and rest a little."

I welcomed her again and left to my room.

I decided to rest , too. I mean, sure I only carried the luggage a little while, but also remember that I'd been working that day too. I was exhausted! Phew!

One thing was for sure. Life in this palace would never be the same. Oh! Having two identical girls who were also completely nonidentical in personality, and even in hairstyle! Did you see my reaction?

I couldn't wait to see Kathy's reaction. I couldn't wait for _Larry's_ reaction!

Oh boy!


	3. Chapter 3

It was about five o'clock or so when the bell rang again. I assumed it was Kathy, Robert, and Greeny. Patty was just finishing unpacking, I think.

Anyways, I went down the elevator. In all the excitement I'd forgotten it was there. That happens with somewhat frequency. We always tend to forget that we've got like four elevators. Stairs are better for your health, anyway.

I got to the front door. Yep. It was the Other Three. They were carrying cloth bags full of food. That's another thing. We don't use plastic or paper in Amarkia. They're illegal. All customers use their own cloth bags. And in case you're wondering, the plastic that we use is made from algae oil. All of it. From smartphones to trash bags to cookie packages to soda bottles to…you get the idea, right?

Yeah, you get. Do you? Moving on…

I said hi to them and they all walked in. "What took you so long?"

"Oh, the usual. Lots of people at the store."

Robert and Greeny were also carrying a few things. "We do we put these, Kathy?"  
"In the kitchen." She turned to me. "Did Patty arrive yet?"

I nodded. "She's in the room, unpacking. Said she was gonna rest a while."

"Oh, well. We'll put the groceries away; I'll start dinner, and get the table ready." Just before she left to the kitchen, she said to me, "Will you give Greeny a bath? And when he's done, tell Robert to shower."

I nodded. Greeny whined. "Oh, gosh, do I have to take a bath?"

"Yes, you do, young man," I said to him. "You've been sweating all day, and we've got a new member in the family."

"Aw, gee. I want to play!" he said.

I grabbed his hand. "Come on." We started walking up the stairs. Behind me I heard Robert singing, "Greeny's taking a bath, Greeny's taking a bath! Ha ha!"

I glared. "Don't be so joyful, mister. You're next."

His smiled dropped. "Says who?"

"Says me, that's who!"

He crossed his arms. "You can't make me. You're my brother, not my mother!" Ohhhh. He wanted to play rough, eh?

"No, I'm not your mother, fortunately, but I am your older brother, your adoptive father, and your legal guardian."

He rolled his eyes. "I never get to have fun," he muttered.

"Don't murmur, young man! You keep that up; you'll get grounded for two weeks! Am I clear?"

"Yes," he muttered.

"I can't hear you."

"Yes, sir," he said in a clear voice.

You gotta be firm with these kids. If you let them, they'll take over the place and try to run the show. And everyone knows that nine or ten-year-old boys are not the best candidates for that, right?

Anyways, I gave Greeny a bath without too much trouble, and Rob showered without complaining. Loudly, that is. I don't know what was going on in his mind.

Anyways, once the boys had showered, and Kathy had made dinner and set the table, I sent everyone to get dressed. I told Kathy to change in my room, so she wouldn't bump into Patty. I wanted for everyone to see her while we were at the dinner table. Sort of a grand entrance, you know?

Well, everyone was at the table, food and silverware set, candles lit, the whole nine yards. I knocked on the girls' room. Patty was all dressed and ready. I led her to the Family Dining Room. She stood just outside, while I was at the entrance. Everyone looked at me. "Here she is! Our new family member. Patricia Kyverná." Then, I grabbed Patty's hand and led her in.

Boy, you should've seen their reactions! Robert dropped his lettuce fork, Greeny almost fell out of the chair, and Kathy…her eye's widened so much, I thought her face would burst out. I could even hear her gasping. Even from the other side of the room. It was so quiet in there; you could've heard a shooting on the other side of the world.

What Kathy said next was, "Huh? What…how…we…she…I…eh…HUH?!"

I couldn't help laughing. "Yeah, I know. But believe me; this is far from a practical joke. I know Larry might do something like this, but he's literally a million light years away."

Patty was also surprised. "I've never seen something like this. I mean, this is…really something."

I led Patty to the table. "This is your new family. That's Gredard, but we call him Greeny. This is Robert. And that apparent carbon copy of yours is called Kathy."

Patty nodded her head. "It's a pleasure, Kathy."

Kathy stood up and shook her hand. "Sure is, Patty. I've heard of identical twins, but I never thought there could be twin cousins."

Well, I sat at the end of the table, while Kathy served everyone. Patty of course, got the biggest piece of chicken, the freshest leaf of lettuce, the crunchiest carrots, and the juiciest…well, juice. Obviously.

Anyways, once we started dinner, I said, "Well, Patty since this is the first time you'll be having dinner with us, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

She hesitated. She was the quiet type, apparently. Definitely opposite of Kathy, who is very chatty. "Well," Patty said, "I'm not sure there is much to tell. Only that I'm Kathy's cousin and her same age. And well, I suppose I'm doing fine in school. I usually get decent marks." Wow, talk about modest!

"What TV shows do you watch?" Robert asked.

"Oh, well, I don't really watch much television. I usually watch history or science films."

"Do ya like baseball?" Greeny asked.

Patty laughed. "Well, I'm not really an expert on sports. I usually just go on my bicycle. Well, went. I couldn't bring mine along…because someone stole it."

"Welcome to the club," said Kathy. "It's happened to me like, what, four times?"

I nodded. "Yeah, something you gotta get used to. But, first thing tomorrow, you and I'll go to the store, and you can pick a new bike."

Patty finished chewing the food in her mouth. "Oh, no. I couldn't impose. I mean, I don't have money with me."

I grinned. "Patty. I'm the richest person on Earth. I've got hundreds of billions of dollars. I can afford one bike. Plus, you're our new family member. You deserve some good treatment. Plus, you're part of the Royal Family. That entitles you to a lot of great treatment."

She smiled. "Well, if you insist."

Well, she finally told us more about herself. She loves to read in her free time, has had about three or four boyfriends, aspires to be a writer or play in a symphony or orchestra, and loves to travel. She knows about other cultures. A lot. And, fortunately for me, she's a whiz at Algebra and numbers. Which I am absolutely terrible at. I never had a good relationship with numbers.

And let's not talk more about, 'cause if I don't, I'll get a splitting, unbearable migraine. And I do mean unbearable. Moving on.

At the end of the evening, we made one of our Top Family Desserts: Bavarian Cream Pie. And Patty loved it. "I can see I'll love growing up here."

I patted her on the shoulder. "We'll try our best to make you feel comfortable. And, something we always say to each other: if you ever need anything, if you want to know anything, you know, tell me. I'm the Head of the Family. Sure, I'm only a little bit older than you are, but I do have that responsibility."

She nodded. "Thank you, I will. I'm…" For a minute she sounded like she'd cry. "I'm very grateful to you all. I have a feeling I will never regret having moved here."

"Well, thanks," said Kathy.

"You gonna stay here forever?" said Greeny. Four-year olds, you know.

I chuckled. "No, little brother. Just until she finishes high school. And if she wants to stay here, or move, go to college, get married, go work someplace…well, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. If we do, I'll end up crying."

The five of us laughed.

I could tell that having Patty with us would really, I don't know, make our lives brighter. But, little did I know that…let's just say that's it's not good to put in a pair of two identical birds in the same cage. One that's chatty, social, and enthusiastic; and the other quiet, soft, and modest.

It leads to untold…well, let me say this. Ohhhh boy

Anyways, after we finished dessert, Kathy and Patty put the dishes away while Robert, Greeny and I cleaned the table. Well, okay, Patty pretty much forced Kathy for her to let her help. Kathy would never do that.

While the boys were cleaning the table, I took the silverware in the kitchen. The girls were already chatting. Can you believe that? They hadn't even met more than two hours ago, and they were already in what they call "the usual girl talk."

I was putting the silverware in the dishwasher, when I got an idea. "Hey, you two! I just thought of something. Why don't I make a party next week? Sort of a welcoming party? I'll invite some of the guys and girls from our school and we can let them meet you."

"That's a great idea!" said Kathy. She turned to Patty. "You can meet lots of new people." She nudged Patty gently, winked, and clicked her tongue. "There's lot of cute guys!"

Patty's face turned pink. "Well, I'm not sure…"

"Oh, come on, Patty. Don't be too modest. I'm telling you, there is Will, he is the cutest..."

"AHEM!" I said loudly.

"I mean, second-cutest guy in the whole country!" That's better. Not that I like to brag and boast, but I mean I've heard people say that five-year-old girls have fallen for my blue eyes.

Anyways, after a while, we convinced Patty to let us make a Welcome Party. But it was kinda late, so we decided to start making invitations the next day.

The next day. The next day! The next day was Patty's first day at Sauropolis Junior High! Man, I'd completely forgotten.

I wanted to go personally, so to introduce Patty to her new class. I was sure she'd make a great impression. I was sure she would. I told her not to worry about anything and promised her that her first day would be just fascinating and terrific.

Oh, that really cheered her up.

One thing I forgot was to tell myself that everything would go all right. Guess it slipped my mind. Maybe I should've done that.

Back to the present, Larry was very attentive. "So, what were you expecting for that first day?"

"Well," Kathy said, "we didn't know what to expect or what would happen."

Then Patty said, "But we did we know that people were going to be, ah, surprised."

Larry nodded. "I can imagine that. Must've been quite a shock to Kathy when she first saw you."

I sighed. "I was expecting for Patty to at least have a good day, but, boy was I wrong!"

Larry got all eager and attentive again. "How'd the first day go? And how about that party you made for her?"

"I'm getting to that," I said. "Well, next day, after breakfast, we got all ready. Dropped Robert off at the elementary school and took Greeny with my uncle and aunt. And, well, we got the the middle school. Went straight to the principal's office to sign enroll Patty in."

Back to that day. Kathy, Patty, and I walked down the alley along with the Principal, Mr. Anderson. Fortunately, his rotten and mean daughter was sick that day. Not that I wanted her ill, but I didn't want Patty to have to handle her insults and sarcasm first thing that day. First impression are very important.

Anyways, we reached our homeroom. Mr. Anderson stopped and looked at me. "You ready, Your Majesty?"

We all took deep breaths. "I guess so, sir," I responded. He opened the door and stepped in the classroom. Kathy and I walked inside, while Patty waited out. When Kathy and I walked in, everyone stood up. A sign of respect.

Anyways, I told everyone to sit back down. Then, Mr. Anderson said, "Class, we have a new student in our fine school. She is a new member the Royal Family. She is Princess Kathy's cousin." He extended his hand to the door, where Patty was waiting. "Come in, darling."

Patty walked in. There were some gasps, some pencils falling on the floor, and about half the boys just stared at her, drool falling on their desks. I didn't expect that.

"Class, this is Patricia Kyverná, your new classmate and friend." He turned to me. "Well, I suppose that's it. I have to go now. Toddle-oo!"

He left, while the Kathy and Patty went to their new seats. I would've liked to stay, but I had a country to rule, remember?

I left to my office downtown with the complete confidence that everything would go perfectly fine. Well, maybe not perfect, but at least fair.

So, without any worries, I spent the day fully concentrated on being a good King and nothing else. I didn't call at lunch, mainly because I didn't want Patty to think I was checking up on her. Besides, she and Kathy were probably talking with the kids. I wouldn't want to interrupt any conversations that would create potential friendships.

At around 2:50, I called my driver, and we went to the school to pick the girls up. I was feeling good about things.

But when we parked at the entrance, and waited for them, I saw them walking out the building, coming towards us. I noticed Kathy had a…sort of a wrathful look. She looked furious. And Patty looked…I don't know. Like she was one inch away from crying.

Right then and there, I got a feeling of dread. A feeling that things had gone rotten.

Oh boy.


	4. Chapter 4

I tried to look as normal as possible when the two of them stepped inside the limousine. I didn't want to hint that I was worried or concerned about anything.

I said hi to them when they sat down in front of them. They both responded, trying to sound normal, too. But I could tell something was up. Something had happened. But I was afraid to ask. Still, I had to find out. I was going to sooner or later, anyhow.

"Well," I said, trying to sound joyful and anxious. "How did the day go?"

"Oh, just fine," said Patty. Somehow I wasn't convinced. Then I turned to Kathy, "How did things go?" She looked up at me. "I'll tell you when we get home."

O-kay. That meant that something was definitely up. I would just have to be patient and wait. Afterwards, we picked up Robert from the elementary school and Greeny from my uncle and aunt's.

Ever notice that when your relaxed and happy, trips seem short? Even really long ones? But when you're anxious or stressed, trips seem long? Even short ones? Like, no matter how closer you are to your city or your neighborhood, it seems like you never get closer to your house? You ever get that feeling?

For us dinosaurs, it's like waiting for the day your friend's baby brother will hatch out of the egg. It never seems to get any closer. Like walking on a treadmill. You walk a lot, but never get anywhere.

That's exactly how I felt on the trip back. It was only like fifteen minutes. But it seemed like two hours. If it seemed like that, maybe it was because I was really anxious to hear what Kathy would say.

Well, we finally arrived. Greeny arrived asleep, so he took a nap. Meanwhile, Robert started his homework while Patty read a little while in her room. I grabbed a quick bite of a grilled cheese sandwich, when Kathy got to the kitchen and sat me down at the lunch table.

I had a feeling what would come next would be something short of a joyful experience. She sighed, looked down, then said, "I…have…never…been so humiliated in my whole life!"

"What happened?"

"Everything! That's what happened."

"Kathy, what are you talking about? What happened?"

She exhaled. "Well, at first nothing. It was during the second half of the first period. The teacher asked some question. Nobody had studied so nobody raised their hand. I didn't because…well, I didn't study either. Anyway, Patty answered the question."

"So, what happened? She did right."

She nodded. "Yes, I know. But she gave a good, long explanation. She explained it beautifully, but when the teacher told everyone else that they had to be like her…wow. That's when it started." She stood up and started pacing.

"First," she said, "everyone looked at her in the meanest way you could imagine. Then, some crazy blonde behind Patty drew a notepad at her."

"Oh, no," I said.

"Oh, yeah. Then, when we went to lunch, another kid stuck already-chewed gum under her shoe. At lunch, another wise-guy started calling her Einstein and nerdette. The female version of 'nerd.'"

I shook my head. "I can't believe it. I just can't believe it."

"And that's not all you're going to believe. While we were walking to our next class after lunch, somebody tripped her. She almost broke her ankle. And just before you picked us up, a group of boys started harassing her." That got my attention.

I mean, I can stand it if someone might make fun of my girls. I might even take tripping, practical jokes, or throwing things. But one thing that I DO NOT tolerate is harassment from the opposite gender. Anytime a guy harasses Kathy or Patty, it makes me SO mad…just gets under my skin. Makes me wants to…I don't know.

But, anyways, when I heard what Kathy said, I could feel the hot lava of anger rising from deep within me. I could feel steam hissing from my ears, alarms ringing on my head, and my teeth grinding. "WHAT?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Kathy said, "That's right. A group of boys blocked our way out, and one of them tried to hug Patty and another touched my hair." Well, that did it. I was so mad; I had murder on my mind.

I told Kathy not to tell me anymore, 'cause I was liable to let my wild dinosaur instincts take over. That happens to us sometimes. Even though we are way more civilized than humans—no offense, by the way—when we get angry enough about something, sometimes our wild dinosaur instincts come back.

Occasionally it happens to me. Especially when someone messes with my family. I guess it's just parental instinct.

Anyway, I decided to sleep early so as to cool down my rage. I mean, I was literally mad to kill that group of boys. But that never solves anything. So before thinking of a solution, I slept for eleven hours and thirty-three minutes. My record is when I slept a whole day and a half.

So, the next day, I dropped the girls off at the school and went on to work. According to a small network of undercover spies and agents, I learned that that same group of boys always gathered at the school exit at dismissal time. At one particular place: the large maple tree just outside the exit.

Now, you may be wondering how I would be able to tell the tree out of a dozen others. Well, that's simple. That tree was the only one that had a scar in the shape of an umbrella. Yeah, I know it sounds silly and unbelievable, but it's true.

Anyway, I got there about twenty minutes before the last bell rang. I was in dinosaur form, now. So, there I was, hiding in some bushes, trying to blend in with the shadows. Off in the distance, I could hear the thundle of rumble…I mean, the rumble of thunder. And if I wasn't mistaken, I saw some lighting flashes.

Man, I sure hoped it wouldn't rain now. I would need fair weather conditions to clean house on that group of trouble-making boys. I waited, like a tiger stalking its prey. I hate waiting, let me tell you. That's one of my faults: I'm very impatient. I HATE waiting. No matter for what or whom it is, I hate waiting. Makes me feel like I'm losing time.

Finally, the last bell for 6th graders rang, and the doors opened with dozens of kids walking or jogging out. Most of them jogging to get home, before the rain unleashed itself. Winters in this part of Amarkia are not freezing. They can get cold, and every few years we get lots of snow. But one thing is true about winters in southwest Amarkia. They are very rainy.

And the rain that falls, it doesn't just fall. It POURS. It comes in buckets. In sheets. Like the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." Sometimes, here, it's more like "It's raining wolves and lions." I'm not kidding.

In any case, I waited for one of two groups of people to walk out: either the girls or those boys. I really hoped for the former, because that way I could gather more information and sort of be able to rehearse more. Turns out the latter came out first.

Yep, the group of boys came out first. And they weren't what I expected. Holy smokes! They were 8th graders! And when you're a 6th grader, anything above your grade seems like a giant. Gulp!

I better admit here, while I still have the guts to. I got scared. Terrified. The last time I'd gotten scared of an older group of kids was when I was in the 1st grade when a group of tough kids stole my brand-new, two-week old two-wheeler.

That just shows you that I'm not easily scared by older kids. It takes a really tough kid to make Spiny Kyverná sour to the stomach and get all jittery. Speaking of which…I could feel my teeth shattering. So much that I…ouch!...bit my tongue. Laugh if you want, but when you've got sharp teeth like a Spinosaurus, it HURTS LIKE CRAZY!

Made me yelp, naturally. The boys looked in my direction. I quickly lowered myself. Thankfully, they didn't see me. They went back to talking and laughing.

Then, at that moment, Kathy and Patty walked out. They looked very tense. Even from a distance, I could tell they were nervous, too. Just as I predicted, the group of boys walked in front of them.

Couldn't hear what they were saying, but I was sure it wasn't good. They were definitely not asking for help on Grammar homework, I'll say that much.

Then, they surrounded them, blocking all possible escape routes. I decided this was the time, while they were concentrated on them. I stood up slowly, and walked even slower over to them. My legs were shaking so bad, I was afraid I'd collapse and and crack my knees.

I took one last and possibly final deep breath, and walked up to them. I said in the loudest possible voice, without breaking it, "Hey, you!"

Five pairs of eyes turned to look at me. Yep, there were five guys. All of them taller than five feet, six inches. All very heavily built around the shoulders and with muscular arms. One of them had a cap on his head. One of those winter caps that skateboarders use. Another one had two black rubber wristbands on his left wrist.

The toughest-looking one, and possibly the leader of the group, walked up to me. I stood myself up so as to look at him square in the face. Had to lean back on my tail a little bit. "Well, if it isn't our favorite dinosaur king anywhere. What's you're your name…Thorny…Spiky…Spine…Spiny, that's it. Sorry, but I can't remember unpleasant people."

The other four laughed at that. If it had just been him alone, I might have attacked him right then and there. But…let's just say that five-to-one is not exactly what you would call "fair odds."

Those are more like "lethal odds." Lethal in every sense of the word.

Anyway, I tried my best not sound the least bit intimidated. I said, "I'll try to forget you mentioned that, smart-aleck."

"Whoa, aren't you Mr. High and Mighty." He turned to a guy next to him who had earphones in his…well, ear, obviously. "Hey, Buster, tell our dear King what he wants. Because if I remember correctly, I never called for him."

Buster walked up to me. Phew! His breath smelled like decaying skunk. Never mind how I know that. Don't ask.

Anyways, Buster said to me, "Who called you here, Mr. King? Shouldn't you be at your office lowering taxes or legalizing teen marriage?" Oh, they thought that was funny. They go a huge laughter out of that. I guess I missed the twisted humor in that.

I gulped. And hoped not to faint. "I didn't come here to answer anybody. I came here to take my sister and my cousin home. It's late, and it's about to rain and we need to do a lot of things." I walked towards the girls and was about to take them by the hand and go running like a thief. Except that Tough Guy got in my way and pushed me.

"Let me make myself clear, Kingy. We found these dames first and…"

Okay, that really got me. Suddenly, all my jitteriness went away. I felt my temper quickly rising again. But I didn't bother cooling it down this time. "HOLD IT! They are NOT dames. They are very nice, well-educated, well-behaved girls."

He sneered. "Listen, if you want them back, you'll have to get through me." He turned to Buster again and said, "Tell him how many guys I've beaten single-handed."

Buster walked up to me and said, "Lots of 'em. So much that we've lost count."

I squinted my eyes. "Oh, yeah! Well I don't care peanuts if he's beaten up a million guys. Now, you get away from Kathy and Patty right now, or regret it."

They laughed at that. So hard that they threw their heads back, closing their eyes. Closing their eyes! This was the chance. I gave Kathy the look, and she got it. She and Patty grabbed each other's hand and ran like crazy.

Well, Mr. Tough-yet-Big-Mouth was too hard concentrated laughing that he didn't notice that his two hostages had escaped. When he opened his eyes and saw where the girls had been, he stopped laughing.

He did not look happy. Matter of fact, uh, he looked quite upset. He turned to his guys. "Fools! You let them get away! Well," he punched the palm of his hand. "Guess it's pay-time."

I had it all figured out, see. The minute they inched closer to me, all I'd have to do was run for less than ten seconds. I'd be in the limo with Kathy and Patty and we'd be off before those guys even laid a finger on me.

That's what I did, turned around, started running and…slipped on a banana peel. Some stupid sadist with a banana had just left it there! It'd hadn't been there a second earlier. And now, off all the sudden, it was there.

As you might expect, I didn't make much progress.

Slipped on the dumb banana peel, fell forward on my face. But as you might've assumed by now, that wasn't the worst of it.

I sure wish I could've been able to get up and run. It was a lousy coincidence that at that moment, the clouds burst open and like I said, buckets and buckets of rain. I assumed that the foul weather would discourage the group of thugs. It didn't. They came after me as if it was bone-dry.

I tried to get up and run, but, drat, I slipped and my arms and legs got all tangled up.

I know you'd like to know what happened. But it was too embarrassing and humiliating that I won't tell you. Sorry, but I won't. Maybe Larry will write his own stories one of these days and tell you. But don't expect me to tell you, because I won't. So, goodbye and have a good life.

Go ahead and keep reading, but don't expect to read anything about the fight.


	5. Chapter 5

I changed my mind. A person who is humble and not cocky has to admit the dark moments in life, even if it's unbearably humiliating. All right, might as well say it right here and now.

I haven't known you much time. Yes, you, the reader. The only person I know well is the author, obviously. But, I can tell that you are an understanding, mature person. So I'll confess what happened. I got beat up. There it is, right there in the open.

Over here in our country, things like these in between teenagers happen often. And, of course, getting up by a bunch of cocky, short-tempered teenagers isn't exactly a felony. Just happens. Part of life. But, me, Spiny Kyverná, the King of Amarkia, getting beat up by a bunch of arrogant 8th graders?

You'd think since I'm King of a very powerful country, I'd be able to stand up to almost anything. I'd like to dispute that in court.

Well, I'll tell you what happened. But only if you promise not to tell anyone about this. And especially not any teenage girls. Not that I'm a ladies' man or want all the girls crawling over me, but I still got a reputation to uphold among them.

And in case the reader, or you, is a teenage girl, I would very much appreciate if you didn't think of me as a coward, weak, or incapable. Thank you.

So, as I said before—make sure nobody's watching you read this part—it started raining at the worst possible moment. My legs got all tangled up and I couldn't run. Even if I hadn't fallen, I probably wouldn't have made it unscathed. That's 'cause the limousine had already left.

A shame, huh? Well, just happened to be a bad day for me.

Anyways, I was soon surrounded by the entire group. Like I said, five-to-one odds are among the worst odds possible. And my experience proved that.

Tough Guy stood in front of me and just like that, POW! Punched me in the stomach. I wheezed and dropped to my knees. Then, Buster came and, well, busted me on the head. After that, all of them joined in.

Let me tell you, kicking is a lot worse than punching. I was still lying on the wet concrete sidewalk, torrential rain falling on me. I was still trying to recover the precious oxygen that had been knocked out of me from the first punch. But they just kept kicking.

Kicked me again and again in the face and in the stomach, stepped and dropped heavy things on my tail, twisted my arm backwards till it almost broke off, punched me face again, etc. I tried to use my teeth and claws to defend myself.

This is pretty much impossible when you've got three muscular 8th graders holding your arms and legs tight, while the other two beat you mercilessly.

I have no idea how long the beating last. I am not kidding, they literally kept on hitting and punching and kicking until they got so tired that they're arms and legs got sore. Know what they did, then?

The five of them picked me up, took some yards away, and threw me in a storm drain under construction. They threw me right on the metal part. It hurt so much that by that time, I was crying. I'm ashamed to admit it, but me, King Spiny who'd gone up against terrorists, Nazis, assassins, evil dinosaurs, monsters, gangs, cannibals, was now crying because of a simple group of empty-headed 8th graders.

I was crying, yes. Sobbing. Bawling. In full tears. Of course they laughed…well, tried to, because they were too tired to even laugh. They were still catching their breaths. That's how tired of beating me up they were. Imagine how I was!

Anyways, I lied there in the storm drain, my body completely devastated. I knew I had to get out. It was raining so hard that the drain was already one-third filled with water. If I didn't get out…I just hoped I didn't pass out. If I did I'd probably drown.

I tried standing up, and knocked my head against the concrete, which made everything worse. So, I crawled on all fours instead. But even that send up fiery shoots of pain all the way to my back and my neck.

I'm not exaggerating, but it took me literally, an hour to get out of that storm drain. Once I reached the surface, I just collapsed right there on the ground. It was still raining really hard. It was already dark by now. Remember, it was winter, so the days are shorter.

I tried to drag myself a little bit more, but I was too exhausted. I just didn't have the energy. I finally reached and got under a tree. Which was foolish, because there was lightning all around. Although at that moment, I didn't care if I was vaporized. I just didn't care.

I lied there, hoping that someone would find me. I waited half an hour before an official government vehicle appeared. I was still crying. All that time. I just hoped that the press and the media would never find out.

Turned out to be a local municipal judge. What happened next was blurry. Point is that, not twenty minutes later, I was in my Palace, up in my room, lying on my bed. The whole family was there, along with my Royal Doctor and his Nurse. And my Dentist. I had like five or six teeth knocked out.

"Well," said the Doctor. "You got a sprained neck, a broken tail, some cracked ribs, bruised face, two black eyes, bleeding nose, lots of broken, chipped, and missing teeth, right leg and left arm almost broken, and even a fever. And an infection in your throat. I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but you're as bad and sick and beaten as possibly can be."

I choked at that. I still had semi-dried tears rolling down my face. The damage to my body was bad enough. But besides that, my spirit was smashed, my reputation probably gone down the toilet, the respect of my citizens gone. I'd been mocked, laughed at, abused, humiliated, and horribly embarrassed. My heart was shattered, my mind was in shock, and I didn't care at all it I died right there.

I hadn't felt so bad since the day my parents were killed and I refused to eat and almost died.

I felt a tear rolling out of my left eye. Right. What's the difference?

I buried my face into my pillow. Laugh all you want. You can say that men don't cry, but that's not true. Not true at all. Jesus cried, didn't He?

Anyways, I sobbed into my pillow. Although it almost wrecked me, cause my throat was so sore and my neck hurt so much, that even crying messed me up even more.

I felt my doctor patting my on the shoulder. "Don't worry, sir. Just rest for several days, and most likely you'll be all right. If you need anything, just let me know."

After that, everyone left, and Kathy closed the door behind her. I cried for hours that night. I didn't get to sleep until almost midnight. A lot of people, especially health freaks would say that when you exercise a lot, it makes you sleep soundly. So, being beat up that bad can be considered exercised, right? So, do you assume that I slept soundly?

BALONEY! I slept terrible. Every time I turned around to get comfortable, I felt unbearable shoots of pain all over. When I finally did get to sleep, I had nightmare after nightmare. It was about me getting beat up by five 8th graders. Déjà vu, huh?

It was still raining hard when I woke up. I looked at my alarm clock. Yikes, it was two in the afternoon! I'd slept fourteen hours! Didn't surprise me. Everything still hurt terribly. I'm not kidding; it was indescribable, unspeakable, unimaginable pain all over. It was not just pain. It was throbbing pain. Aches and discomfort. Agony. Just pure agony. It was torture, that what!

It was so bad I almost yelled at my body to get numb. I was weak, worn-out, starving, thirsty, bad-tempered, and well, you know. My throat felt as dry as sand. First thing I needed was water. But I had no way of getting any.

Not only that, I had a splitting headache. And a stomachache. Heck, even my eyelids hurt.

At that moment, the door opened. I turned to look. It was Patty! She was carrying a large silver tray. "Hello, Spiny," she said softly. She came and set the tray down beside my bed.

It had a glass of water and three chicken sandwiches. I turned to her. "Thanks," I croaked. My throat was so sore and dry that I could barely talk. I even coughed. Remember, I'd even had a throat infection. And a fever.

Patty smiled. "Sure. I thought you'd be hungry and thirsty. I also came to take your temperature." She stuck a digital thermometer in my mouth. After a while, it beeped, and she took it out. "Says 100.5®."

Just what I needed. Oh well. I nodded as if to say "thanks." I couldn't even say it. I would have started coughing again. I couldn't stand that 'cause it made my head throb.

Patty stood up and knelt down beside my face. "Thanks for what you did, Spiny." Then, she leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. Well, at least that eased the headache a little bit.

I painfully ate my sandwiches. Took a lot of effort. Same with the water. But, oh it felt so good, that water running past my throat. At least those calories gave me a little bit of energy. I thanked Patty for the lunch, after which she left.

I reached over to my water-proof watch and changed to human form. So I could lie on my back. I can't lie on my back if I'm in dinosaur form. See, we Spinosaurs have sails on our backs. And those sails are fused to our vertebrae. So if we roll over on our sail, we break our back and die instantly. No kidding. That's a huge vulnerability. That's why, when we go to battle, we wear protection around our sails.

Anyways, I changed to human form. That didn't change the fact that I was beat up and sick, but at least lying on my back felt more comfortable.

I slept the rest of the day. By dinnertime I felt a little better. The pain in my legs and arms had soothed a little bit. The rest of body was still sore. And I was still coughing hard, plus I could still feel the fever.

I was like that for three days. By the fourth day, I had enough energy to stand up and walk a little bit up and down my room. The girls kept bringing the food to my bed, which I appreciated a lot. I also listened to music, watched movies and shows on the TV in my room. That sort of took my mind off my, uh, state of being.

And later that day, I took a long, hot shower. That really helped my muscle pains and aches. By next the next Monday, I was well enough to leave my room. But I didn't dare leave the Palace. I was still shook up. I mean, you get over the physical damage of bullying, but not the physiological and emotional scars.

I was still scared to death. And I still had a slight headache, and a mild sore throat. But, thankfully, by Thursday of the next week, I woke up feeling…like a million dollars. No kidding, took me just over a week to recover.

By Thursday afternoon I was on my treadmill, lifting weights, and jogging around the Royal Gardens.

The girls said that they were happy to see me well again. "What are you doing to do now?" said Kathy. "You gonna beat those guys back?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. But I will get even." I started forming out a plan of action. I won't tell you what it is now. Anyways, at dinner, I told them about my plans for the welcoming party.

That night we started sending out invitations. In case you're wondering, Rudy and Dimetroodon we're invited. And, um, Lilia and her sister were also invited. At that time, I still didn't like Lilia. And her sister was in the 8th grade. Wait a second. She was also in the eight…Hmmmm. Just a thought. But I think I knew how to lure the gang of thugs into my trap.

I happened to know that those boys were very popular, so I decided to invite them too. Oh, they thought they would come to the party to ruin things, but, heh heh, were they wrong!

I had it all figured out. Mwah ha ha ha ha! Sorry. Couldn't help it.


	6. Chapter 6

The day of the party was the next Saturday. Saturday in the late afternoon. It was about fifteen or twenty kids invited. There was everything, of course. Hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, corn dogs, sodas, sandwiches, salad, ice cream, cake, pie, you name it.

And of course, music and dancing in the background. Some friends of mine had placed a huge sign on the back wall that said, "Welcome to Your New Home, Patty!"

Of course, when I brought her in the Party Room—which is on the first floor of the palace—she almost cried from surprise and happiness, of course. While all the guests went over to talk to her, I quietly slipped out of the room and went outside.

I crept through some bushes and small trees over to the designated location of the showdown. Here was the plan: Kathy and Patty are identical in appearance, right? Not only that, the three of us found out that they got imitate each other's accents to perfection! Amazing, right?

So, here's what I'd done. Since Rebecca was like, totally crazy about those thugs, I'd asked her to ask them to meet her in the designated location, just in front of the Palace Gates. In the shadows, out of the view of street lights. I knew they wouldn't resist the temptation. But here's the catch: when they arrived, they'd find not Rebecca, but Kathy. Or so they would think!

That's right! It would be Patty, posing as Kathy! And meanwhile, Kathy was in the party, posing as Patty. So, anyways, I got to the location. Patty was already there, sitting on a bench, waiting for the thugs.

I waited in the shadows for several minutes. After a while, they showed up. All five of them. They walked up to the bench. Of course they were surprised, but the tried to hide it. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the new beauty at school." The other guys smiled with him. That wicked smile of his was enough to make me want to sock him in the throat and blacken both of his eyes for a change. But I waited.

They walked up to her. She acted all sweet, smiley, and well, you know, tempting. So far, so good. I'd said I wasn't going to trash them, but, after all, there was nobody around to say "no." Hee hee.

They stood around her. "Well, hello, beautiful!" said Tough Guy. "Why did you want to see us?"

She smiled, and winked. "Well, I decided that I should…you know? Meet new people."

Tough Guy couldn't resist anymore. He put his arm on the bench behind her, and leaned towards her. I was still lying quietly in the bushes. I changed to dinosaur form. Then, I whispered to myself, "One, two, three." Then, at the top of my lungs, I said, "ATTACK!"

I leaped into the air and landed right on Tough Guy. From the other bushes, Dimetroodon and Rudy appeared and went for the other three. They'd been waiting in the bushes. In an instant, I had Tough Guy on the ground.

He was, like, SO surprised. He didn't even have time to be shocked. I had him on the ground. I decided not to hurt him too much. I just kicked him a little, threw dirt on his face, wrinkled his tuxedo, and twisted his arm once or twice.

Dimetroodon and Rudy also gave the other three a good thrashing. Didn't last long. As soon as we stepped back, the four ran away. What about Buster, you might ask yourself? When I'd jumped from the bushes, he ran away before I beat Tough Guy up. Not so Buster at all, huh? It was too bad I couldn't bust Buster.

But, the other four, including their chicken leader, ran away like a group of little kids at the sandbox. "And don't ever mess with us again!" I yelled. "Next time, I won't let you off so easy!" They kept running until I couldn't see them anymore.

I turned to Dimetroodon and Rudy. They were a little dirty and one or two bruises, but otherwise fine. I patted them both on the shoulder. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. Oh, by the way, this is Patty Kyverná, our new family member. And this is Rudy and Dimetroodon, two of my best friends and companions."

Well, after that, we got all cleaned up. I changed back to human form, and we got back inside the Palace. Rudy and Dimetroodon got back in the normal way. But, I had to sneak in myself with Patty. We couldn't let anyone find out what had just happened outside. Only the guys, Patty and Kathy, and I would ever know.

I sneaked in through a crack in the door. I searched the room until I saw, aha! There was Kathy. She had like four kids around her. I really hoped she was acting like Patty was. You can't exactly imitate personalities as well as you can imitate accents.

I very sneakily stuck my arm and waved it randomly. The door opened quickly which scared the living daylights out of me, until I saw it was Kathy. She and Patty quickly exchanged clothes in the closet and came out. Looking ve-ry good.

They walked back in the room, me behind them. The whole room erupted into cheers and applauds. Everyone turned to smile at Patty. The real Patty. She cried from happiness and put her hands over her face. I put my arm around her and took her to the microphone.

"Well, we're happy to see you all here. This is certainly a great occasion. We're here to welcome a new member of the Amarkian Royal Family, a new member of this community and neighborhood, and new classmate at school. And of course, new friend. Patricia Kyverná."

Everyone started applauding again. Patty smiled so hard, I thought her mouth would bust. I asked her over to the microphone. "Would you say a few words, please?"

She walked up to the mic. I could see that she was shaking all over. "Well, I don't really know what to say." She looked at us, then back at everyone. "Yes, I do. I want to say that I'm so happy to be here. I feel so privileged and honored to have been accepted into the Royal Family." She looked at me. "I especially want to thank our dear King and friend, Spiny. He's been very sweet, kind, welcoming, and did so much to make me feel wanted."

I felt my face redden. I looked down and shuffled my feet. "And also, I'd like to thank my cousin and new best friend, Kathy. I've been able to really open myself up with her. She's been so understanding and has not let me down or left me, even in, um adversity."

Oh, I knew by the way everyone looked at each other and whispered that they knew exactly what they meant. "Now, I know," Patty kept on saying, "that one does not often take to others' liking at the start. But I do have the certainty that with time, my peers will get to know me, and I'll have enough friends to make me happy. Thank you."

She stepped down, and everyone started clapping again. I was glad to see her so happy. Not just happy. Sort of in a fatherly way, you know. It's a beautiful feeling. It makes you feel so, I don't know. It's like you say to yourself, "Well done."

Well, the rest of the party, the girls were pretty much socializing. Kathy was introducing her to other girls. Darla was there, in case you're wondering. And, well, so was Lilia. But remember, that during this time I was still avoiding her, so I stayed as far away from her as possible.

During this time, I had a crush on another girl. Her name was Margaret. Margaret…I don't know. I forgot her last name. She was the last girl before Lilia. Margaret was two inches taller than Lilia, had blonde hair. Not yellow; golden blonde. She had bright blue eyes. And she also had a great singing voice.

So, I saw her sitting at a table with some friends. I sat in the table next to hers. I pretended not to notice her. I was just sitting there. Whistling. Looked up the ceiling. Took a sip of soda from my cup. Cleared my throat. Looked up the ceiling again.

I was losing time. I turned around slowly. The girls were laughing about…something. Who knows? Maybe about some other friend who didn't match her dress with her shoes. Maybe some guy had acted ridiculous in front of them. I don't know.

Anyway, I turned around and was about to walk over to them. I stood up, and dang it! The music changed and some stupid schnook cousin of mine called Rudy announced a special song for Patty and me to dance to.

Oh well. I think the song was…don't remember. Let me think here. No, I don't remember. It was written by some famous Amarkian singer. Remember, this was the year 361. Way before The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley, One Direction, Selena Gomez, or any of those celebrities.

But I do remember that I enjoyed it. It was only fourth or fifth time I'd ever danced. Before that, I'd hated dancing. But once I'd tried it, I loved it! Anyways, I'll never forget that dance. It was one of the few times in my life when I really felt like a father.

It brings tears of happiness and nostalgia every time I think about it.

So, after that, everyone clapped again. After that, about three out of every three boys took Patty out to dance. I heard a lot of kids apologize to her for treating her badly. I'd heard later that many of them had been forced to treat her that way. By the same group of thugs I'd beaten up. Some kids had even been blackmailed. How they found out, I have no idea.

But the point is that for just a few sweet moments, Patty became the most popular girl at school and in the neighborhood. It did her a lot of good. She soon became good friends with Darla and Lilia. One thing that made me uncomfortable at the time was that, sometimes, when Patty and Lilia were talking, I'd catch them giggling and looking at my direction. Suspicious, huh?

In any case, Patty was not exactly shy. She just wasn't very open and forward like Kathy is. If you wanted to be friends with Kathy, all you need to do is ask for her IM or email address. With Patty, you literally have to ask her if she wants to be friends with you. But the grand majority of the time, she'll say yes.

Well, the party ended at 10 pm. Said goodbye to everyone. As everyone was leaving, I stood at the door, shaking everyone's hand. To no surprise to anyone, Lilia walked up to me and said, "Hi, Spiny."

I got very uncomfortable. "Uh, hi, Lilia." I tried to make myself be polite. Almost forced myself. I mean, in that time, I didn't want her near me. Like I said, I was still avoiding her. But, I always was nice to her and treated her with dignity. At least I hope I did. "It must be really great having a cool cousin like Patty."

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah. Guess so."

She looked down and fidgeted. Then she looked up and said, in a more-or-less awkward voice, "Well, goodbye."

Then she trotted outside.

I closed the door. And locked, secured, and fastened the door. I know it sounds crazy, but, hey, I wasn't quite mature enough to fall in love with a wonderful girl like her yet. Anyways, afterwards, I went upstairs to my room to change. Once I was in my pajamas, I went outside to get one last cup of chocolate milk.

I always do that before going to sleep: a small cup of chocolate milk. Except when I've got the cold, the flu, or strep throat. Milk is like, one of the top ten worst foods you can eat when you're sick. Make a note of that before you get sick again.

Anyways, I was sitting at the table, drinking my milk, feeling absolutely exhausted. Plus, my feet were hurting. I'd danced like, seven times. And no, I didn't dance with Lilia. But, yes, I did dance with Margaret. The point is my feet were hurting. Not that I step on the girl's feet. The girl is usually the one who steps on me, actually!

While I was drinking my milk, Patty walked in. She had long pajamas, the ones from the 60's that look like robes. Plus, she had a housecoat on top of the pajamas. She asked, "All right if I get some orange juice?"

Wow, she was really modest! Well, I guess you couldn't really blame her. She'd barely come to live in the Palace. In the home of the King of the country. She was still getting used to new surroundings, new schedules, a new neighborhood, new school, new everything!

I laughed. "Of course, you can! It's your house now, too."

She smiled. "Thanks." While she was serving herself juice, she said, "I want to thank you for all you and Kathy have done. I've really felt out of place until today. I made many new friends and acquaintances."

"I even saw some of the guys talking to you."

She laughed. "Yes, I know. Kathy was right. A lot of them are very cute. As a matter of fact, one in particular interested me."

I got anxious to know. "Who?"

"I think his name is Ken?"

"Oh, yeah, uh, Kenneth Leroy."

"Yes, that's him. He seems very attentive and acts like a great gentleman." She sighed and rested her head on her hand.

Well, I'd had enough of social life for one day. I said goodnight to Patty and went to leave to my room. The minute I collapsed on my bed, I instantly fell asleep. I must've been really tired for that to happen. I mean, literally, one minute it was night, and the next, it was morning.

Next day was Sunday. Oh, I wanted to sleep until four in the afternoon. I would've made it if not for…


	7. Chapter 7

I was rudely woken up at around ten thirty in the morning. Why is it that no matter what kind of person you are or how sweet you are, you always get cranky when you're woken up?

It just happens to be something natural. Why is it? Well, that's beside the point. The thing is that I was woken up abruptly. Kind of bugged me, too. I don't really take days off from work. I mean, a King can't really rest, right? Just because you're not in the office doesn't mean you're not working. Being the absolute leader of an entire country is pretty much a twenty-four-hour job.

You gotta be alert at all times. You could be peacefully resting and then suddenly be needed to do some perilous assignments. You gotta really live each day one at a time; you never know if it could be your last.

Anyways, I was woken up. I looked and it was Greeny. He'd pulled down the covers, revealing my orange, black and white striped pajamas. Greeny was there, with three other kids. Two boys and a girl. They seemed to be his age.

My first reaction, obviously, was, "HUH?! What the!" I quickly pulled the covers back on. "Greeny?! What are you doing in here? And who are those people?!"

"They're not people, they're my new friends."

I rolled my eyes. "Greeny. I have told you a thousand times not to wake me up!"

He tilted his head. "But they wanted to see the tiger pajamas."

Tiger pajamas?! What the heck was he talking about? What…oh. The ones I was wearing. I mean, sure they were nice pajamas, but for crying out loud! "Well," I said. "There must be something else in this town that interests you besides my pajamas!"

I didn't notice that Kathy was behind them. She also looked a little sleepy-eyed. "Calm down, Spiny."

"Well, no, really! I mean, come on, Kathy, this is too much! "

"Spiny…"

"I mean, barging here into my room, invading my privacy. Can't a King have his own privacy, for goodness sake?"

"But, Spiny," said Greeny. "He can dance great," he said, pointing to the small boy beside him.

"Yes, dance, George!" said the girl. I guess she was the little sister.

"Dance time!" said the small boy. I guess he was George.

"HOLD IT!" I exclaimed. "Nobody dances in this room except me!" Huh. Don't know why I said that. I mean, when you're all excited like that, you don't think before speaking. And, uh, do I actually dance by myself in my room? No comment.

"Come on, kids," said Kathy, showing them out. The kids said goodbye. I was still a little shook up over the rude awakening. When all the kids had left, Kathy walked up to my bed and said, "I never saw you dance in the room before."

I groaned and buried my face against the pillow. Oh, for crying in the bucket!

Sigh. Well, I tried to go back to sleep. I wasn't successful. Well, I gave up on that, got up, washed my face, and went downstairs. I grabbed some brunch then went to my Home Office room. I decided to at least kill some time going over Foreign Relations and National Defense Budget. It's a lot better than just lying in a bed doing nothing.

I was just going over approving some budget cuts, when Larry walked in. He was carrying a large black binder. He came up to my desk. "Good mid-morning, mister Spiny."

"What's up, Larry?"

"Great news! I got some new super-powers."

This subject in particular always interests me. "Really? What is it?"

He opened the binder, flipping through the pages till he got about a quarter of the way through. He turned the binder so I could see. There was a list in alphabetical order of all the super-powers our best scientists had made.

"Ah, here we are!" He pointed his finger to where it said Matter Turn-in.

"What does that one do?"

"Well, as the name says, you can basically turn into anything. Although not the way you might think."

I shook my head. "I don't get it. Could you explain it?"

He looked around. Then, he pointed to the table. "See this table?"

I nodded. "Yeah. So?"

"Watch this." He put the binder on the table. Then right before my eyes, he blended into the table. I couldn't see him anymore. I mean, he just disappeared right into the table!

"Larry? You there?"

"Yeah," I heard his voice say. I still couldn't see him. "Are you in the table?"

"Not just in it. I am the table."

I was at a loss of words to be frank. "Wow…I…that's, really…I don't know what to say!"

"Yeah. We just perfected it. Well, almost."

"What else needs to be done?"

He was quiet for a minute, and then he said, "Well, I'll show you. Go grab something heavy and drop it on me."

Huh? "Drop…are you sure? You think it's safe?"

"Just do it. I want to show you something."

I shrugged. "All right. Remember, you're the one who told me to. Don't hold me responsible if you come out hurt." I looked around and saw the first heavy item that could inflict damage on a body. It was a small yet heavy metal file cabinet. I picked it up, walked over to the desk, and dropped it on the desk.

I heard Larry's voice. It said, "Oof!" It sounded like real, genuine pain. Then, in a very strained voice, he said, "You see? Anytime anyone hits, kicks, bangs, heats, or chills the object you've turned into, it hurts your actual body."

I thought about that fact for a while, running it through my brain. "So, what you're saying is that, for example, you turn into a desk or chair or something, and someone blows it up to pieces, you get actually blown up?"

"Exactamundo," he said. He reappeared as himself. He had a huge bruise right in the middle of his back. Eesh, that looked painful. Not too much, but still. He straightened his back, and then with Healing Power, touched the bruise, and it disappeared instantly. I already knew he had that power, so it's no big surprise to me.

You see, Larry has all the super-powers. I don't know how much they are in total, but it's definitely more than 350. Anyways, he said, "So, now you can see how it can be practical to spy on your friends but not when you're on a dangerous spy mission."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I can see. Oh, by the way. My cousin Patty just came in to live with us. Want to meet her?"

He shook his head. "Sorry. Can't. Gotta go back to check the status of our space colonies in the far universe. I think I'll be back in a few weeks. Maybe two months. But I'll be back."

"Yes, I'm sure you will." That's one thing about Larry. No matter where he's gone or for what reason or for who long, he always comes back. Sometimes that's a good thing. Other times…not so much. Anyways, he left, probably using his Teleporting Power.

After he left, I went back to my paperwork. Then, at lunch time, Patty walked in, carrying in roast beef and mashed potatoes and gravy. Mmm! That looked good! Smelled good! And I was betting it was going to taste good!

"Made you a little something," she said, setting the tray down.

"Thanks," I said, then went back to the paperwork.

She sat down in the chair across from me. I could see her from the corner of my eye. She was holding her hands tight, looking down at her lap. Then, she said, "Um, Spiny. I know that you are busy right now and that this might be a bad time to talk, but I guess I have no alternative."

I looked up. "Well, I could rest for a little while." I set the pencil down on the desk. "What is it?"

"This is quite of embarrassing. I don't know if I have the courage to say it. Or if you'll understand."

"Try me," I said, blinking my blue eyes. What could possibly be wrong? I mean, what kind of embarrassing problems would a new girl have? I should've thought the most obvious answer. But I guess I didn't. So it's no surprise to you that I got one heck of a shock when Patty said, "Spiny, I'm in love."

My eyes widened. All I said was, "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….."

I felt hot and cold at the same time, and felt prickles live someone has sticking cactus needles on the back of my neck. What. Did. She. Just. SAY?! For goodness sake, she was only twelve! I mean, I know girls mature faster than boys but this was ridiculous!

I mean, I barely talked to girls at this age. I didn't have any female friends my age. Or any age for that matter.

I thought to myself, Calm down. More likely she's just infatuated with someone. There is no such thing as true love at the age of 12.

I stuttered a little bit. "Well, uh, um, who-who-who-who…." Okay, I stuttered a lot. I mean, remember, I was a twelve-year-old father. I was as immature as any 12-year-old boy you could find. Okay, not that much. I have never, never eaten boogers, or tripped girls, or played pranks or any of that.

Anyways, you can see why I reacted the way I did and not the adult way. Oh well. "Um, who are you in l…I mean, who do you like?"

She looked down. "Oh, a boy in my science and English class. Kenneth." Oh, Kenneth Evans. I knew him somewhat. Not exactly a friend, but an acquaintance. He's 5 feet, 6 inches tall. Has blonde hair. Amber-colored eyes. Wears brown-rimmed eyeglasses. He's Vice-President of the Chess Club, the Math Club, and the Science Club.

Guess who's President of all three? No, not me. I'm not a nerd. Well, Ken's not really a nerd, but you know, it's a stereotype. Whenever someone mentions chess or science they think of people with huge grapefruit-glasses, short straight hair, complete disassociation, and basically, boring people.

Well, let me tell you something, buddy. I happen to LOVE science and chess. (I DETEST math, so don't even mention it.) And for your info, I don't wear glasses, have a decent head of hair, and I have my share of friends. Now, boring, I don't know. Maybe I am.

Ask someone that. That's beside the point.

Anyways, that's Kenneth Evans. Well, that's how he is now at the age of fourteen-and-a-half. Use your imagination for the twelve-and-a-half-year-old figure.

"Well, I" I managed to answer. Pretty lame, huh? But, hey, what can you expect at this age? I tried again. This time I took deep breaths. Inhaled through my nose all the way to my lungs, exhaled slowly out the mouth. "I'm glad you came to me first. What is it about him you like?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess…he looks kind of cute." Cute?! Ken? Maybe decent, yes, but cute? I thought to myself. This was so far out. Really far out.

But of course, I didn't say anything. When a girl's in love, or infatuated, you gotta treat them like a delicate rose petal. So, I said, "Well, that's good. I mean, uh…" Okay, I didn't know what to say. This was the first time I had this probl…I mean, uh, situation.

"Well, if you're asking for permission to hang out with him, it's all right with me. I mean, he's well-behaved, has good grades, and well, is in overall a good guy."

She chuckled. "Oh, Spiny. Don't you think I'm still too young to date?"

See, what kind of legal guardian I was at this age? Let me tell you something, for us guys, the ages of twelve to thirteen-and-a-half are like, the worst years in all our lives. All the changes, discovering who we are, what we want, girls, not to mention our immaturity.

My dad used to say that all teenagers, boys and girls are immature in some way. When a guy's twelve or thirteen, immature is pretty much his life. His middle name. Now, I'm not bragging or showing off, but now that I'm fourteen, I've matured enough to the point in which I can say that I'm a good head of family, an excellent student and friend, and a great leader, but I'm not perfect.

But that's not what I was talking about. What the heck was I saying before I got distracted? Oh, yeah.

Anyways, I said, "Well, thanks, anyway for telling me. I see you trust me. I'm sure you'll do just fine. You're going to make a lot of friends soon."

She chuckled. "Well, I'm not real good at making friends, but I'm better at adjusting to new places and new environments."

I shrugged. "Believe me, when my parents died, I was not ready to assume responsibility as head of family. But, now that I'm 12, I'm really thankful to have that privilege."

I packed up my laptop and grabbed my things. I just needed to take care of something quick in the lab room. Like I said, Larry and I don't tell anyone about it. It's, uh, something that we keep from the general public. Hey, nobody said being a King is easy. And especially when you're a teenager. Oh well.

Just before, leaving, I turned to me stepsister's cousin, and my new adoptive daughter. "Well, Patricia Kyverná, welcome to our family!" I said gleefully. She ran up to me and hugged me. "Thanks, chief."


End file.
